


Chasing the Sun (wipe away your tears)

by ScarletSparkles



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: But not by Aomine, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Kise Ryouta Being an Idiot, Lots of fluff though!, M/M, Mild Gore, Panic Attacks, Recovery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-18
Updated: 2018-07-14
Packaged: 2018-08-31 15:26:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8583712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScarletSparkles/pseuds/ScarletSparkles
Summary: "It was simply an accident. It wasn't supposed to work out this way." Suddenly, Kise can't remember anything about Aomine or their memories together. As his old friends slowly tell him of his past, both Kise and Aomine wish the memories will come back. However, they both realize that Kise might never will (because the truth may be harder to bear). Aokise.





	1. Chapter 1

 

_Prologue_

Gold eyes slowly opened, narrowing under the harsh glare of a flashlight. He flexed his hands, but something was stopping him from moving them too far apart. He tried to move his head, but a sharp pain stopped him. All of the sudden, a knife appeared, pointing dangerously too close to his face for his comfort.

"Yeah, take his eye out, he'll scream so prettily," A voice snarled from the distance.

_No._ The knife lifted, and he could see it fall back down again. _No._ But then it wavered and retracted, and he let out a silent breath.

"Save them, it'll be cute to see his expressions," A different voice said.

"Hmph. Suit yourself," The first answered. He found himself lifted, then roughly carried until he was facing a wall of some sort. Where am I? How...? Then the panic set in, and he struggled against what he discovered were his binds.

_No. No. No. Aominecchi help-_

And then his head collided with said wall so hard he saw spots and tasted blood in his mouth. He was spun around and thrown roughly against the bricks, the back of his head snapping painfully.

_Aominecchi-_

More pain. Another slam. His arms snapped painfully behind him, and he felt the right one snap.

_Fuck. Fuck. Aominecchi? Wher-_

Another slam. He heard screaming, before realizing they were his own. His head kept banging against the bricks, and Kise felt hot tears stream down his face. What was happening to him? Who is doing this to him? Why? It was simply an accident. It wasn't supposed to work out this way.

_Please. Help me._

* * *

_One_

"Your name is Kise Ryouta. My name is Aomine Daiki. I...fell in love with you. And we...God! I can't do this!," Aomine yelled as got up, promptly kicked open the door and walked out. There was a silence before Kuroko and Kagami shared a look and sighed.

Kise cocked his head to one side. "Aomine-san?" He called to the retreating figure, then flinched as the door slammed shut. He looked over at Kuroko, then furrowed his eyebrows. "I didn't make him mad, right, Kuroko-san?"

Kuroko sighed again as he got up from his chair, Kagami following his action. "No, you didn't, Kise-kun. He's just..he's just a little sensitive right now." He walked to the door. "Midorima-kun will see to you now. Be good."

Kagami opened the door for his boyfriend, and just as Kuroko was stepping through, Kise yelled, "Wait!"

Kuroko glanced back.

"What...what did he mean by 'I fell in love?' Did I...Did I love him?" Kise asked, sharply aware of how Kuroko's eyes clouded with grief. Kagami cleared his throat when Kuroko refused to answer.

"Just, uh, just call him Aominecchi. He'll like it." Kagami explained. Kise slowly nodded in confusion as the couple exited the room.

Kise stared at the closed door. What did he do to Aomine-san? What did he even mean? And why did Kuroko-san look so sad?

* * *

"Oi, Kise you moron! That was totally my pass!" Aomine yelled as he stole the ball from Kise.

"Like hell it was! Kurokocchi lovingly passed it to me!" Kise snapped back, trying to get the ball back with no avail.

"Yeah, like Tetsu would pass to the enemy!" Aomine spat, racing away to score.

"That's because Kurokocchi loves me too much!" Kise yelled back as he ran up to the other to stop him.

Aomine snarled and lunged at the blond, only to have the two fall into a bundle on the floor of the basketball court. They rolled around for a bit, then suddenly Aomine's knee was between Kise's legs. A silence fell onto the two as they stopped fighting to stare at each other. Then Aomine opened his mouth and bent down to Kise's neck and-

"Aomine-kun. Please don't ravish Kise-kun. Especially not while Kagami and I are still here. And weren't you the one that suggested we switch up the usual teams for two-on-two? You can't break your own rules. Please don't engage with the enemy." Kuroko said, mono-toned and looking disinterested.

Aomine scowled. "Man, Tetsu, way to ruin the mood. Never mind. I change my mind then. Let's switch team members back. You wanted to be with your 'light' anyway." He pushed off the ground, then held a hand out for Kise. "C'mon Kise love. Let's beat these two so bad they run away screaming."

* * *

Kise found out that Aomine-san used to call him 'Kise love.' Takaocchi told him that Aomine found it funny because Kise had cried when he'd first called Kise that. Then he continued to do it. Kise didn't know why he'd cry before. Was he a cry baby before? He wouldn't know. As he was left alone inside the hospital room, he tried to imagine the cold stranger who had talked with him just a few moments again say those words. He couldn't. There's no way that violent person would ever do something that romantic as call someone 'love', would he?

Kise smiled as Midorima came in, because whenever Midorima-san was here, Takaocchi was nearby. This time, Takao came in with a bowl of onion gratin soup, Kise's favorite. Or it was supposed to be. Nevertheless, he loved it.

Takao squished his way onto Kise's bed, ignoring Midorima's "Get off the bed, Takao." He quickly planted himself underneath the bed's covers, then laughed about how warm it was. Kise liked being with Takao. He didn't look at Kise with those sad eyes everyone had. He also told Kise about stuff Kise wanted to know about, while the others just averted their eyes.

"Hey, Takaocchi." He said with a giggle as the other was busy making himself comfortable. Then he looked up at his doctor, the stoic Midorima-san. Kise didn't mind Midorima either. He was a quick, efficient doctor that made sure Kise was alright. He also gave Kise random objects calling them his "Lucky Item" and that he "should treat them with extreme care" which Kise made sure he did.

Midorima started his check up by handing Kise a single red sock. Kise wondered where the other one went, but he didn't ask. Takao snatched the sock before Kise could reach it, and loudly exclaimed, "Shin-chan was really excited to give this to you!" Midorima was quick to deny the fact, but Kise saw the light blush the other had as he pushed his glasses up.

Midorima checked Kise's wounds, especially the ones on his head, then his heartbeat, blood pressure, body temperature, and a bunch of boring other things that Kise didn't really care about. Everything seemed to heal nicely, much to Kise's relief. Takao celebrated by taking the red sock and flinging it at Midorima's face. That got Takao kicked out of the room for "disturbing the patient" to which Takao retorted, "Kise wasn't bothered. You're just being a baby, Shin-chan!" But he left the room anyway, much to Kise's disappointment.

Then, Midorima told Kise about his brain scans he took a week before. There was severe damage before, even if it was healing, Midorima told him. He'll still have to stay in the hospital. The TV at the end of his room was still banned. He still couldn't read books or look at bright light either. Kise pouted at that, but he knew Midorima was trying to help him.

"And also, regarding your memory, Kise." Midorima told him, "It's not clear when you'll get them back, since you're still not remembering, even after a month and half of recovery. Since you're healing, once you're well enough, you can try touring the city or visit your house. Try jogging your memory. I know it's hard to remember stuck inside this room." Kise didn't even know what his house looked like. How could he not even remember his own house?

"I'm sorry, Kise. I can't do anything to help you." Midorima finished, straightening his glasses.

Kise forced a laugh, even though his heart was sinking. "It's fine, Midorima-san! I'm still me! Kise Ryou!"

Midorima's eyes became clouded when Kise said his name, for some reason. It was Kise Ryou, right? Midorima then gave Kise a smile, which was odd. Midorima never smiled to others, only to Takao on rare occasions.

"Akashi will come see you now, Kise."

* * *

"Aominecchi! I want ice cream! And Maji Burger, and a whole pizza, and some of Muraskiburacchi's chips, and candy, and..." Kise trailed off as he tried to think of what else he wanted after they've won the two-on-two.

"Alright, alright." Aomine grumbled as they walked to Maji Burger. Kagami yelled behind them, "This makes three losses, three wins, Ahomine! Don't get a big head."

Aomine smirked as he turned around. "We'll win and make a four-three next time." Kise turned around as well and stared Kagami and Kuroko down with a grin.

"Yeah!" He agreed.

"We'll definitely win next time, Aomine-kun, Kise-kun." Kuroko replied.

"Yeah, right. You can try, Tetsu. Now go buy us those burgers." Aomine said as his smirk grew wider. Kagami grumbled as he and Kuroko went ahead to the restaurant. It was a rule they came up with after their first game: Who ever loses has to pay for Maji Burger. Aomine and Kise found themselves a seat after they entered Maji Burger, and waited hungrily for their free meal.

Kagami finally dumped the whole horde onto their table. Another rule: Who ever loses buys seventy-five burgers to share and a vanilla milkshake for Kuroko.

Aomine cockily bit into his burger. "Ah, food is so, so good when you get it for free!"

"Shut up, Ahomine." Kagami said with a glare as he picked up his own.

"You shut up, Bakagami." Aomine glared back as he took a purposely huge bite into his burger.

Pretty soon, the two were wolfing down the burgers, trying to see who could eat the most before the burgers ran out. Kise, used to the banter between the two, had already pushed his pile of a couple burgers aside so the two hungry monsters wouldn't eat all the food without him. This time, Kagami won the eating contest, and Kise had to drag Aomine away from almost swinging at the redhead.

"Let me just have one punch, Kise. One punch." Aomine insisted as Kise held him back.

"No, Aominecchi! Kagamicchi didn't punch you last time you won!" Kise protested as Aomine struggled.

"But Bakagami is really being annoying!"

"No, Aominecchi!"

Aomine turned his face to Kise's suddenly and leaned in close, and Kise could feel his face heat up. "One punch, Ryou, one punch," Aomine said softly. Fuck. Kise was always weak to Aomine whenever he'd used Kise's nickname like that. And the stupid idiot knew it, too. He let go of Aomine's shirt, and after his boyfriend went flying at Kagami, the four was promptly thrown out of the restaurant.

* * *

Kise liked Akashi, he had a cool air to him that Kise always wanted to match. The moment those red eyes landed on him, Kise felt himself straightening his back, and lowering his head a bit.

"Good morning, Ryouta." Akashi's eyes were quickly scanning over him, no doubt looking for any sign of pain in his body.

"Hi, Akashi-san." Kise greeted, his voice quieter and smaller than it usually was. He wondered if his old self also got this way with Akashi as well. He figured he did, seeing how Akashi seemed so regal. Akashi sat in the guest chair as he continued to scan Kise.

"How are you feeling?"

Kise smiled, "Fine! Midorima said that I was healing well!" Akashi nodded, and seemed to relax a little bit.

"I've heard. But I meant about your emotions. Are you happy?"

Kise paused as he thought about it. "I'm happy whenever Akashi-san or Takaocchi visits!" Which was true. Kise enjoyed Takao's company, and even though Akashi was intimidating, Kise liked sharing his thoughts with the other.

Akashi raised an eyebrow, "Not when Tetsuya or Kagami visits?"

Kise pressed his lips together. "No, they're a little quiet. They don't talk to me at all! They bring me burgers which I like, but they always look sad and talk with Midorima instead of with me!" Kise complained to Akashi.

"That's because they care about you, Ryouta." Akashi explained.

"I know, Akashi-san! But I wish they'd stop worrying about my memories. They haven't come back yet, so I wish they'd just talk to me like I'm normal, not someone who can't even remember their own birthday."

"I see." Akashi said after a pause. "I'll make sure to tell them that." He handed Kise a cell phone. "Daiki will know the password. Unless you remember it. I'll see you, Ryouta."

Kise pouted when Akashi got up to leave. "Bye, Akashi-san. Thanks for coming!"

Akashi smiled at him again. "Get well soon, Ryouta."

"Thanks, Akashi-san."

It was only until after Akashi was long gone that Kise remembered, "Oh, my name is Ryouta."

* * *

Kise ate a bag of chips while the four walked aimlessly around after they got kicked out of Maji Burger. It was getting cold, so Kagami had wrapped his scarf around Kuroko. When Kise turned to Aomine for the same treatment, he was quickly shoved in the face. After Kise sulked for a couple blocks, Aomine grumbled, then took of his jacket and wrapped it around Kise's shoulders.

"Hmph! I don't want your jacket, Aominecchi!" Kise whined as he refused to look at Aomine.

"Just take it, you idiot." Aomine yelled, "I'm cold here!"

"Then you wear it, meanie!" Kise shot back, but pulled the jacket closer to himself and snuggled up to Aomine as they continued the walk.

"Aominecchi is so nice to me." Kise whispered.

"Shut up." Aomine said, with a light blush, "I'm not a stupid romantic like Bakagami." He looked up at Kagami and Kuroko giggling like high school children a block ahead from them. They were nearing Kagami and Kuroko's shared house, so Aomine knew they were gonna break off and go do gross things to each other.

Which is what he wanted to do to Kise, but he couldn't say that.

Kise stuffed his hands into his pockets after he'd waved goodbye to Kagami and Kuroko. Then he whined about how cold his hands were. "Aominecchi! My phone's in my bag but my hands are too cold to get it out!"

Aomine glared at him. "What do you want me to do about it?"

"I just felt it buzz and I want to check on it, so can you get it out for me?"

"Like hell!"

"Please?" Kise asked, making puppy dog eyes at Aomine. Aomine rolled his eyes, then snatched Kise's bag and grabbed the phone. He quickly entered the password, then paused as he realized what the message was.

"What is it? Who is it from?"

Aomine contemplated why he tried so hard to get the phone in the first place. He should have known this was going to be the message.

"Go die, Kise."

"Who? Tell me! Tell me!"

"It's a stupid fan, you moron!"

Kise laughed with eyes sparkling, "Really? What did they say?"

"I am not reading this."

"Read it! Please, Aominecchi?"

Aomine sighed then, in an overly exaggerated tone, said, "Oh! Kise-san! I not sure if this is really your number, but I just wanted to say that I'm a big fan of you and your shoots! You are so amazing! Also, I'm free on Saturday at 8:00 if you want to meet up. I know you get a ton of these messages already, but I wanted to know that I've read every single one of your blog posts-oh gosh that's creepy, Kise."

"Keep going!" It was obvious that Kise was drinking up the praise.

Aomine gave Kise an exasperated look, then continued very slowly, "-and I believe I'm a good match for you because you said you liked people who play basketball, and I do, and you also said that you liked confident people that have a blue hair and can talk dirty and-Oi, Kise. What the hell?"

"That's you, _Aho_ minecchi!" Kise pouted as he glared at Aomine.

"Don't you that stupid nickname!" But since Aomine liked that Kise posted about him on his oh so famous blog, he kept reading, "-I can do all those things, I promise! I even dyed my hair for you! I'm enclosed a picture below if you think I'm alright. I promise I will give you everything you've ever wanted and more! Kise-san you're just too amazing and handsome!"

Aomine laughed as he finished. "So, these are your fans?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Only some. Most are respectful of my boundaries." Kise answered. "Plus this one only wants me because I'm a model and she could brag to her friends or something." Then he brightened. "Plus, I've got you, Aominecchi!"

* * *

Kise cracked it after a couple hours of trying and getting locked out multiple times. There was pretty much only selfies and pictures of cats. Surprisingly, there was also a lot of photos of Aomine. The blue haired man always looked grumpy in the pictures, but Kise had put little notes under the photos, like "Haha Sleepyhead!" and "ANNIVERSARY! :DDDD 7/5!" and "Look at his face omg! *faint*" and "Celebrating B-Day with Aominecchi!"

Kise felt a pang as he realized he didn't know anything about this Aomine, but his past self had. He'd read through his emoji-ridden texts to the other, and they were always expressing how much he loved Aomine. Had he really been like this? Had he really fallen? And really, what happened to him?

He'd read the texts Aomine had sent to him the day he apparently went "missing," and they were filled with concerns, ever crudely worded. It was obvious that they loved each other. It was obvious Aomine missed the old him. It was obvious that this amnesia was hurting Aomine.

There was a knock on his door, and his heart sank. He'd gotten a ton of visitors already, so he prayed the detectives wouldn't decide to show up today as well. They were always fake kind to him, saying they worked with Aomine, they knew him, etc. But he knew they thought he was strange, that they wanted the other Kise back. Thankfully, it was just a nurse checking up on him. Her smile was huge as she gave him some food, but Kise couldn't give her one back.

He knew the other Kise would've been able to. He was supposed to be the other Kise. Why is he not? What happened to him?

* * *

"Akashi." Midorima said as he caught up with the redhead. "Why did you give him the cellphone? I don't want to push him too far. What if he starts to remember what really-"

"He won't, Shintaro. I have already read through his phone with Kagami. There's nothing weird on it."

"What if Aomine read through them first and erased them?" Midorima pressed.

"Then he would've told me when I asked." Akashi said. Then he spun around and stared at Midorima with an intensity that sent shivers down the doctor's spine. "We need to protect them both from the truth. We can only tell them after we figured out who the perpetrator is what what exactly happened to Kise. I cannot let them worry when Kise needs to focus on healing."

"Then you should know that he'll eventually remember, right?"

"Just keep Takao at it. Bring up happy memories only. We need time, Shintaro." Akashi dropped his gaze as Midorima got a rare moment of uncertainty from the former Teiko captain. "When Kise does recall, I want the criminal to already be crushed under my thumb."

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm putting this on ao3 for the guest on fanfiction.net that told me to. Thank you guest! I decided to keep the same notes, but they are a little dated, as I put this on fanfiction first: 
> 
> Oh my...the beginning was unintentional! This was supposed to be a fluffy, Kise looses his memory because of something stupid the idiots did, and fluff fluff away! But I actually wrote the teaser/summary after the first draft, and I just couldn't ignore the last part of it. Ah, my brain is so messed up. Why do I have to do this to myself (and to you as well)? I really wanted my first aokise multiple-chapter work to be fluff T_T Despite all that, I do have to say this is one of my favorite fics I'm working on so far, so I'll try hard to make it exciting!
> 
> Oh well. Please forgive me. Since it was fluff in the beginning, there's cute parts I planned as well! The first 3ish chapters are still going to be formatted like this (aka slowly dropping clues about what happened and Kise finding more about Aomine and having a gentle plot) and then it's gonna go down. I'm pretty sure this is a 6ish chapter work, but really it could go anywhere now. And Akashi playing detective because why not?
> 
> P.S.: I update agonizingly slowly, like once in a blue moon. Please comment/review! They always motivate me to write faster (lol). Constructive criticism is much appreciated as well.


	2. Chapter 2

_Two_

Kise had no idea what he was doing. Walking aimlessly around the hospital wasn't going to help him remember, but he needed the exercise. His right arm was still sore, so Midorima told him to focus on his arms when going to physical therapy. Despite all his efforts, he was beginning to lose his muscles, and ended up with a lose noodle-like thing at his sides. He couldn't believe it took so little time to lose muscle. It wasn't fair. How come it took so much to gain them, but it was so easy to loose them?

In the process of trying to gain back his muscles, he found out another thing he loved: Basketball. Takao had told him before, but he wasn't allowed to play while he was stuck in the hospital room, and promptly forgot about it. But now, with Midorima granting permission to "lightly exercise," he figured some basketball would be fine.

He was wrong.

Laying on the panting ground, he tried to catch his breath after his head swam with only a single dunk. Man, he was so out of shape. And maybe he shouldn't have tried playing basketball. Oh well. Suddenly, a shadow peered over him, blocking the sunlight.

"Hey," The voice said. The voice, it was, well to really describe it, it was a really sexy voice. Kise blushed, then his eyes adjusted to the light difference, and he saw the face of a-well, a really sexy man.

"Hi, Aomine-cch-san," Kise said, fumbling with the "cchi" honorific. After Kagami told him to say it, he'd always tried, but it never came out right.

"So, Midorima was talking about 'light exercise' and he practically dropped his glasses when he saw you playing basketball. Too bad, if he wasn't busy right now, he'll be giving you one of those lectures he always gives Takao."

Kise giggled. Takao had lamented over and over to him about the lectures he got from his boyfriend. They were, as Takao said, 'Shin-chan's annoying rambling', but since he always had a blush on when he talked about Midorima, Kise wasn't sure if he was serious about his complains.

"Anyway, time to go back on that weird chair, Kise," Aomine said, as he quickly scooped up Kise in his arms. Kise felt his face flush immediately.

"No, wait! Aomine-san! It's fine! I can walk!"

"No you can't. Shut up and sit in the chair," Aomine grumbled as he sat Kise down. Kise pouted. He didn't want to be stuck in the chair again. Like a doting parent, Aomine strapped Kise back on, making sure his right arm was comfortable, although he grumbled under his breath about it the whole time.

"Thanks, Aomine-san," Kise said softly. Aomine flushed, and muttered something under his breath that Kise didn't catch. "What?" He asked.

"Nothing. Anyway, want to see some real basketball, rookie?"

Kise sent a glare at Aomine. "I'm not a rookie! I just haven't played in a while!" That fact, for once, Kise knew was true. He'd seen the pictures of basketballs on his phone.

"Right. Rookie."

Kise would've smacked him, but he was strapped to the stupid wheelchair, and he was still trying to catch his breath from his earlier dunk. Man, he needed to get back on it. Aomine smirked at him, before picking up Kise's discarded basketball. He bounced it a couple times, then took a shot from the three-point line. It sailed in a smooth arc, before landing straight in the basket without a hitch. Kise's breath seemed to stop. That was...perfect.

His face must've revealed his astonishment, because Aomine just laughed. "Want to see a good three-pointer? Ask Midorima. He's crazy."

Kise felt something churn in his gut at the thought. He felt like he should've known that. He felt like he should've known about Aomine's skills, as well. Would the old Kise be surprised at the shot? Probably not.

As if sensing his distress, Aomine paused and walked over to him. "Hey, you alright?"

"Yeah, sorry," Kise answered quickly. He didn't want the other knowing he was upset. Kise sensed Aomine's stare on him, but refused to meet his gaze. They stood for a while in silence, before Aomine cleared his throat.

"I'll show you something," He said, before getting the ball and then-weirdly, amazingly, shot from _behind his back_.

"What the fuck?" Kise gasped out as the ball, as gracefully as it had before, went smoothly into the net. Aomine laughed, then took a shot sideways. Again, it landed. Then, he winked at Kise as he just threw the ball in. It went in.

Again and again, Aomine shot. His movements seemed random, but each and every time, the ball went in.

Kise could feel his heart speed up. He'd heard about how Aomine dominated in the court during high school and his break time at work according to his co-workers, but he never knew he was at this level-

 _The memory came before he could stop it. Blinking, Kise was standing in front of Aomine, watching him execute those perfect shots, one after the other. So easily, Kise could feel his body yearning to copy before he could stop it. He loudly protested,_ _"Hey, give me a chance!"_

_"No way in hell, rookie."_

_"Meanie! No fair! You bully! Stupid! Idiot! Big fat annoying-"_

_He was cut off when Aomine approached him, and took his chin in his hand. Kise felt his breath hitch. Aomine smirked, then tilted Kise's head up._

_"Yeah, I know," He said, in that husky voice of his._

_And then they were kissing. And Kise felt like he was floating._

Kise blinked. What was that? Aomine was looking at him with concern, but he wasn't Kise's biggest worry right now. Kise was feeling awfully hot and bothered by the memory, and he really just wanted to be gone from the situation.

So he pretended to faint.

* * *

"Look at that! Look!" Kise shouted as he pointed to the television screen. Despite Aomine's earlier reluctance, he looked anyway. And quickly threw a hand out to smack Kise in the face. Giggling, Kise ducked under the blow and danced away with a huge smile on his face. "Haha! Got you, Aominecchi!"

"You idiot! I don't want to see your stupid face ever, much less on TV!" It was true, Kise was on the screen, smiling broadly as he advertised for a shampoo company.

Kise laughed at Aomine's faint blush, and struck the same pose his TV self had. "It's my go-to shampoo!" Kise yelled with his TV persona, and fell into a fit of laughter as Aomine grumbled.

They were back at Kise's apartment after the game with Kuroko and Kagami, and Kise had insisted they watch a comedy show. Aomine had blatantly refused, but was roped in after Kise continuously whined. Aomime got up to turn the damn television off, but the commercial was still going. Kise's face flashed a smile and a wink, and the real one, standing beside the TV, did the same. Kise noticed how Aomine adverted his eyes and had a furious blush on his face.

Ahah. Kise finally reached his goal.

"Aominecchi's flustered!" Kise announced loudly. He ducked right in time as Aomine tackled him, but Aomine's police training obviously kicked in, and Kise found himself on the floor of his living room, his arms pinned back.

"Shut up, Ryouta," Aomine grumbled, and Kise's heart started going crazy. Aomine's voice had dropped a couple octaves lower than it was usually, and Kise was awfully hot and bothered by it. He needed a shower. A cold one. Kise bit his lip, and looked away, but Aomine leaned in close until Kise finally looked back into his eyes. Aomine tilted his head a little, their silent cue for permission. Damn, if Kise was going to refuse now, he'd probably die from the need.

Kise nodded, and the rest was just bliss.

* * *

Aomine had no idea what to do. He'd freaked out the moment Kise slumped forward, and resisted the urge to scream. Shit, shit, shit. Aomine had seen Kise's unconscious face so many times before, especially when he visited him at the hospital, but he was never actively witnessing the effects of Kise's injuries. Did the idiot push himself too far? Aomine shouldn't have gotten him so excited about basketball.

Damn, what if Kise was so excited, his heart beat too fast? Or maybe he'd reacted badly to Aomine's shots? What if Aomine had hurt him?

"Fuck!" Aomine swore, then quickly grabbed the handles of the chair and sped towards the hospital, yelling for medical attention. As he went, Kise's limp body jolted with the chair, and Aomine felt his heart stop.

Kise looked so similar to the day he'd finally been found by police. His co-workers hadn't let him go with them on the search missions, despite his many protests. He'd even went on strike for a couple of days before snapping out of it. Kise wouldn't have liked it if he was angry for so long. So, Aomine had waited. And waited. He'd taken easy jobs to get his mind off of things, but he'd always find himself slipping back to Kise. Then he'd worry so much he'd loose complete interest on his patrols. Eventually, his boss had allowed him to handle interrogations so he could have somewhere to let his anger go.

Then one day, they'd found him. Aomine had rushed straight from his desk, broken several speed limits to reach the hospital, and his heart had shattered when he'd seen Kise's broken form on the stretcher. There was so much blood and Kise's body had bounced along as the doctors pushed Kise towards the emergency room. His body looked so limp, so small.

After the surgery, the hospital had wanted to set Kise up to some no-name doctor, but Aomine used his police badge and his status as Midorima's old classmate to bully them into letting the green-haired top-notch doctor see to Kise. And ever since then, Aomine had continued to wait. And wait. And wait. He'd spent countless nights sleeping in the hospital hallways as they performed surgery after surgery on Kise. He'd cried countless tears, screamed countless swears at Momoi, Kagami, and Midorima. And he continued to wait.

Then one day, Kise had woken up.

And he'd found out Kise didn't know who he was.

He couldn't bear to see Kise after that.

* * *

"Stay the night?" Kise asked softly as he came out of the shower. Aomine just gave him a tired look.

"I have work tomorrow, Kise," He said, but he didn't really want to leave. Kise pouted, then leaned in next to Aomine's ear, pressed his body close, and let out a soft moan. Aomine's ears pinked immediately, and he gave Kise a glare. "I'm tired, Kise. Didn't we do it enough times?"

Kise popped back with a triumphant smile. "Then you should take responsibility and stay!"

Aomine gave him an exasperated sigh, but nodded anyway. "Alright, alright." He got up from the couch, and walked into Kise's room, taking in the sight of the unmade bed, the bunches of clothes, the various beauty products scattered on the floor. If Momoi was here, she'd be giving Kise an earful. Nevertheless, Aomine was used to the environment, and plopped himself down on the bed.

"Ew! Aominecchi, go take a shower!" Kise screeched from the hallway. "Don't just sleep in someone else's bed without permission!"

"Go away idiot!" Aomine called back. He glanced at the door, and found Kise's frowning face. He decided to change tactics. "So, Kise love, can I sleep here?" Kise's face flushed, and Aomine smirked back in response.

"Only if you shower first," Kise complained as he walked over and snuggled up to Aomine. Aomine wrapped an arm around Kise, and pressed his face into Kise's hair.

"Now I've covered you with my sweat germs. Guess we have to shower together now."

Kise pulled back from Aomine, looked at Aomine's sweaty shirt, then grumbled an agreement.

"But we're sleeping after this. Nothing else," Kise demanded.

"Nothing else," Aomine agreed. Nothing else. Hopefully.

* * *

Akashi gripped the edge of his desk, frowning into his phone. He'd sent Momoi off to collect information on everyone involved on that day, but she'd come back with nothing out of the usual.

That was rare of her. He cut off her apology, then grit his teeth. He'll have to find information faster. After issuing a couple more requests to Momoi, he promptly ended the call and stared deep into the dark wood of his desk, as if it could give him answers. So far, he'd still come up with nothing.

Someone had taken Kise. Someone had hurt him.

He just couldn't figure out who. On the night Kise had disappeared to the day that they found him lying in a pool of his own blood, stuck in the corner of an alleyway. Who'd had done it?

There was no one suspicious, according to Momoi. Kise and Aomine had spent the night together, Aomine had rushed off to work, and Kise had disappeared when he got back. There was no one odd that had entered the apartment complex. Kise had left by himself. But why would he leave? Kise hadn't had anything planned that day, according to his manager. He'd left at noon, according to police. But why? Kise had left lunch out on the table, uneaten. Kise always ate, to make sure he kept his body in shape. So why did he leave? Did someone make him leave?

Akashi slammed a fist on the table. He needed to get to the bottom of this before Aomine and Kise. He needed to find the person responsible, and make him pay ten-fold.

A quiet knock startled him out of his thoughts, and he called for the person to enter. A timid Takao shuffled into the room, different from his usual demeanor. He looked at Akashi's fist fearfully, but then snapped out of it and held Akashi's gaze.

"Kise's having a panic attack."

Shit. Akashi shot up from his desk and swiftly walked towards the door. "Get Tetsuya. And tell Atsushi he better have some sweets available. If he refuses, tell him I'm the one who told you."

Takao quickly snapped out his phone, and rushed to follow Akashi's order.

As Akashi left to find Shintaro, various scenarios ran through his mind. What if Kise's remembered everything, and this was the result of it? He needed to reach him before something bad happens to Aomine and Kise both.

* * *

Kise, realizing that Aomine was probably overreacting, woke up and tried to reassure the man, but was quickly grabbed by a doctor. Before he could protest, the doctor was already checking his pulse. The hands on his arm made him shiver, his whole body tensing up. He screamed before he could help himself, then struggled against the hold. The doctor's hands snapped back, and Kise could see the doctor's lips moving, but couldn't hear what he was saying.

He just kept screaming. _The hands on his arm. Gripping. Him screaming. A horrible laughter. A knife. He'd cried for help. He'd wanted-_

"Aominecchi!" Ripped from his throat, the honorific flowing out smoothly. A voice cut through the hysterical crying and the loud memories. Instead of shrinking from the voice, however, Kise knew it. A deep, calm, soft voice. It was comforting, familiar. He relaxed against it, but his body wouldn't stop shaking. He felt the adrenaline still coursing through him, the fear still laced in his heart.

Then Aomine's face was in front of him. Aomine was obviously not touching him on purpose, but Kise really wanted comfort. He wanted the familiarity of Aomine. Even if he couldn't remember why. Even if he couldn't quite remember himself, even if he didn't know so much about the world, even if his memories were still lost, Kise knew one thing-he wanted Aomine.

He tilted his head on reflex, and Aomine pulled back in surprise. Kise didn't know why he did the action, but in the back of his mind, he knew that Aomine would respond. Aomine tilted his head too, and somewhere, deep down in his mind, Kise knew he should nod.

The lips were gentle. It was the only place of contact. Aomine had kept his hands far from Kise, but his lips firmly planted. There was no tongue. No teeth. No sexiness. Just a gentle kiss. A soft one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the mystery continues (dun dun dunnnn)
> 
> I am not a doctor, so the medical conditions are not professional. I don't know how to comfort people during panic attacks, as I've never had to deal with them. If you did, I'm sorry if Aomine kissing him was too fast. If you have any suggestions, any complaints, please tell me.
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you so much for reading. Reviews are always welcomed!


	3. Chapter 3

_Three_

Aomine didn’t come visit Kise after Kise had freaked out. He didn’t know how he’ll be able to face the guy, not after that kiss. Fuck. He didn’t even know if Kise actually wanted it. What if he didn’t? What if he only calmed down because that doctor had stabbed him with a needle or something when he wasn’t paying attention? What if Kise was about to freak out and Aomine had just fucked up their relationship even more? Kise had nodded-but did he even know what he was doing? What if he just nodded because he wanted something the doctor was asking? DId Aomine just force himself unto Kise? 

_ Fuck.   _

So now here he was, pacing around the hallways of the hospital, keeping a wide range away from Kise’s room. But he couldn’t keep the thoughts of the blond out of his head. Even now, the thoughts of Kise, of Ryouta, of  _ his _ Kise somehow wedge their way in. Damn. And if he was going to help Kise actually remember, he needed to support _ this _ Kise, not mess around. 

He sat heavily down on a chair in the hallway and let of a frustrated groan while ignoring the stares he got. 

“Fuck,” Aomine swore out loud. “I fucked up. I fucked up so bad-”

 A knock on a vending machine’s glass interrupted his thoughts. 

“Hey,” Takao called, wide smirk on his face as he threw Aomine a drink. “How ya doing?” 

“Go away,” Aomine grumbled while taking the drink. He didn’t need this idiot trying to console him. 

“Nah, don’t be like that. I walked all around to find you.”

“Fuck off.”

 

Takao stuffed his hands into his pockets. He seemed to think about his next words, then said, “Kise wants to see you.” 

Aomine grimaced. Kise was growing closer and closer to Midorima’s lackey. Now the two idiots are probably going to make each other even more stupid. They were a bad combination, but it’s not like Aomine could say anything. 

Kise had grown apart from him. He probably wanted Takao’s company more than his. Wasn’t it already proved since he’s been spending more time with this Takao idiot anyway? But that shouldn’t be Kise’s fault. Aomine had been avoiding him after all. A omine raised his head to refuse Takao, but then he saw the other guy’s face. It was unreadable, but had the underlying tone of silent judgement. He looked so much like a carbon copy of Midorima, it was scary. 

 

…..Maybe Aomine shouldn't be worried about Takao turning into more of an idiot because of Kise. He should be worried about Takao turning into another Midorima. And he didn’t need another Midorima running around in his life. 

 

Aomine clenched his jaw, got up and left for Kise’s room, throwing the half-opened drink in Takao’s face.

* * *

 

~~~

The text came unexpectedly. 8:05. A quick ring loud enough to wake Kise up. He turned to see the other side of the bed empty. Right. Aomine had to wake up early for work. Kise was off today, so they didn’t get to spend the morning together. Bummer. 

Kise groaned as he rolled out of bed and grabbed his phone. Then he groaned again. The text was from a rabid fangirl. 

‘Hi Kise-chan! I can call you that, right? Anyway, remember the 8:00 date? I’m your modeling agency. I was just worried because you didn’t show up. Are you okay?’ The text read, followed by a lot of sad-face emojis.

Kise frowned, then remembered, “Oh, it’s that girl that dyed her hair.” He sat back on his bed and thought. He’d dealt with these kinds of situations before. He usually just needed to tell them off gently. But this girl was obviously vying for his attention. Damn. 

 

‘Hello! It’s nice to meet you. I’m off work today, so I’m not at the studio.’ He typed quickly hoping the situation would end peacefully, without tears. He paused to think about his next words. He needed to reject her gently, in a way that wouldn’t just crush her heart or something. 

‘I’m sorry, but I don’t really think we can work out-’

No, that was no harsh. He erased the sentence. 

 

‘I’m sorry, but I’m under contract not to date.’  A lie, but whatever. 

‘So I can’t really go out with anyone. I’m really sorry! You seem like a lovely person!’ He finished, then sighed a breath of relief. 

Crisis of heartbroken fangirl hopefully averted. He just hoped she didn’t turn out to be the one that sat on the doorstep of his apartment until he agreed to go out with her. Aomine had to phone the authorities, and the police showed up and dragged her away. Or that guy that spammed him with love texts 24/7, even when Kise had blocked the number. The guy somehow got new numbers as fast as he texted. Eventually, Aomine got so angry he had Momoi hunt the guy’s social networks down somehow. After Aomine left a couple of very creative words, the texts stopped coming. 

 

Kise bit his lip. Just thinking about Aomine made Kise’s heart beat a little fast. Wow. What was he, a teenager?

He winced at what Aomine would say about this situation. 

“Stop posting your number you idiot!” Kise imitated, putting on a fierce scowl. “And stop letting your little fans get close to you! You’re too nice to them!” 

 

Kise just thinks Aomine is jealous.

* * *

 

Aomine knocked tentatively on Kise’s door. 

 

“Aominecchi?” Kise called through the door. Aomine’s heart sped up. He’d used the ‘cchi.’ Did that mean Kise finally remembered? With a quick breath, he threw open the door, ready to welcome Kise back into the world-

 

One look at this Kise and he knew this guy wasn’t the same. Same face, same voice, hell, even the same mannerisms. But this Kise didn’t have the same light around him. The same happy radiance that just screamed  _ Kise _ . The Ryouta Kise. The one that was Aomine’s. 

 

Kise seemed to sense Aomine’s sense of disappointment, because he pushed himself further into the blankets. Aomine shook himself out of it, and plastered a smile onto his face. 

 

“Hey,” He said softly. “Been awhile.” 

 

“Only three weeks, Aominecchi,” Kise answered softly. Aomine winced. He wasn’t used to hearing the ‘cchi’ after hearing ‘san’ for so long. Even though he loved it when Kise-the real Kise-called him that, this one just seems so…. _ fake _ . Like he was trying to be someone else. 

 

“You can just call me Aomine, actually,” Aomine said, but wanted to slap himself when Kise’s smile dropped. 

 

“Ah...right. I’m sorry. Ao-Aomine-san.” Kise seemed to draw himself back, pushed the blankets even higher. Fuck. Aomine fucked up. Again. 

 

“Uh,” Aomine offered awkwardly.

 

Kise didn’t meet his gaze, then reached over to the stand next to him, grabbed a box, and took out a small fruit tart.

 

“Here, Murasakibara-san made these. He’s been sending them over everyday, with Kagami-san’s brother….” Kise trailed off as the struggled to remember. 

 

“Himuro. He’s a basketball coach,” Aomine filled in. Kise nodded at the information, then extended his arm to give the tart over. As he did, the sleeves of his shirt slid down, showing an array of scars. Aomine gasped. He’d gotten used to seeing Kise’s hurt body after the accident, but these scars were new. They still have skin tissue surrounding them, and one particularly long one had a bit of dried blood dotting it. 

 

Aomine immediately ignored the tart, and reached for Kise’s arm. Kise shot back, wide-eyed. 

Aomine froze. Of course. How could he be so stupid? Kise didn’t want to be touched. He’s yelled it when he was being brought to the surgery room after his panic attack. Aomine pressed his lips together, then gently backed away. 

 

“I’m sorry,” He said softly, “I’m sorry, Kise. I wasn’t thinking straight, I-”

 

“No, no it’s okay,” Kise quickly amended. “I’m fine, Aomine-san.”  He bit his lip and looked down while pushing his sleeve to cover his scars. 

 

Aomine frowned immediately. Where did those scars come from? “No, it’s not, Kise,” Aomine said hotly. Was Kise cutting himself? Was he okay? 

 

Kise frowned, then gave him the sad eyes he always seemed to have on nowadays, the kind that was brimming with tears and words untold. And Aomine couldn’t take it. Those eyes-he’s promised to never let Kise have those eyes again-they looked so similar to the ones he’d had in high school, when Aomine hadn’t pulled him up after Kise couldn’t get up from a game. Those eyes that screamed hurt, because even after that game Kise still didn’t hate him. Why didn’t he hate him after that? Why? And Kise had said,’it’s cause I know you still care about me.’

After that, Aomine had promised. He’d promised, he’d swore, he’d yelled it to Kise over and over again-

 

_ I’ll protect you.  _

 

And he couldn’t even do that. 

 

“I’m fine, Aomine-san. Really,” Kise said, but even though Aomine still didn’t know this Kise really well, he knew. He fucking knew that Kise was hurt. That he’d been hurting-to the point of-

 

“It’s not fine! Nothing’s fine!” Aomine didn’t know why he was yelling all of the sudden. He was just so angry. He was just so upset. At himself, at the people who hurt Kise, at the world for letting this happen. 

 

_ I’ll protect you.  _

 

_ Yeah, go fuck yourself, Aomine. Don’t make promises you can’t keep.  _ Aomine felt the prick of tears at the back of his eyelids. Oh hell no, he wasn’t just going to start crying, no-

 

_ I’ll protect you.  _

 

_ Shut the fuck up! Shut up! Shut up! _ Aomine was going crazy. He knew he was going crazy. And fuck-he glanced at Kise’s scarred arm again and-

 

“Nothing is ever going to be fine! You’re fucking hurt! I let you get hurt! I  _ let _ you get hurt! I-”

  
“Aomine-san-”

 

“You don’t understand, Kise. You’ll never understand. How much I hated myself afterwards, how I couldn't sleep. How I just screamed and screamed and screamed-and-fuck-you weren’t responding-and. And it just seemed so unfair. 

Why did you have to-

Why could I-

And I just had so many questions like-

How everything just seemed to work against me you know? Ryouta, really. You idiot. You fucking moron. You looked so fucking helpless, and there was so much blood, and you kept screaming. And now you’re hurting yourself again? What the fuck?” 

 

Aomine sucked in a breath after his tangent. Kise simply stared at him, mouth agape, eyes that same haunting sad. There was silence. Then a nurse ran into the room, demanding to know what happened.

 

Aomine closed his eyes, shut them against Kise’s hurt expression, and ran out the door. 

* * *

Takao rubbed the bruise that was quickly forming on his forehead. He’d pressed an icepack to his face, but the pain wasn’t going away. Stupid hot headed police-man. Why’d he have to throw a freaking drink at him? They hurt! And Takao had wanted to help! 

He pouted as he sat in Midorima’s private office, waiting for Midorima’s lunch break. He still had another 40 minutes, and Takao was getting bored. And his arm was starting to hurt from holding the icepack for so long. 

Suddenly, a person burst into the room, and Takao drops the ice pack with a squeal of surprise. 

 

“Midorima-san-,” The nurse cuts off as she and Takao look at each other with surprise. 

 

“Uh, hi,” Takao offers lamely.  

 

The woman takes a moment to compose herself, then says, “Kise-san said he wanted you actually, Takao-san.” 

 

Takao gives her a confused glance, “Isn’t he with Aomine-san?” 

 

The nurse looks down, bites her lip, and gives him a worried look. “I’m not sure what happened exactly, but Aomine-san stormed out a few minutes ago. Kise-san asked for you a bit later.” 

 

Takao frowns. What happened?

 

“Okay. I’ll go see him. Thank you,” Takao says as he heads out the door. As he leaves, he plasters a huge smile on his face, trying to block out the negative emotions he gets whenever he sees the ‘new’ Kise. He needed to stay strong, he needed to keep Kise happy. So even if he desperately wanted the old Kise back, he’ll have to deal with this new change. 

 

Besides, these were like Shin-chan’s mood swings he has sometimes. Actually, yeah, just like when Shin-chan suddenly gets all sweet and mushy. It’s a little off-putting, but Takao can manage. He’ll do it for Kise. He can do this. 

 

Takao takes a deep breath, then pushes the door open to Kise’s room. A small pout greets him, and Takao almost laughs. No matter what, Kise is still Kise. He just needed to keep this one extra happy.

* * *

 

~~~

At about noon, Kise was settled down, letting himself eat the new diet foods his agency had put him on.  Unlike the other plan, this one actually allows him to eat things besides tasteless vegetables. 

 

Just as he took the huge plate of ‘ultra protein-packed’ plate of lasagna out of the oven, he felt his phone buzz. He immediately pulled it out, looking for Aomine’s name. The other guy usually texted him during lunchtime to make sure he ate properly. There had been a time when Kise refused to eat after he’d gone over the limit for a shoot. He’d been so upset, Kagami had to physically restrain him while Aomine shoved food down his throat. Now, Kise learned his lesson and took his meals dutifully. 

Besides, he didn’t want to see Aomine’s pissed off face again. Or Kuroko’s for that matter. Especially not Kuroko’s. Even though he was small, Kise knew how scary the other can get. During Kise’s little riot against food, Kuroko had gone full-flown Satan. He’d pop out of nowhere and chuck a granola bar at Kise. And he’d do it with a completely straight face and a mono-toned reprimand. 

 Holy hell. 

Kise shook himself out of the reverie, and looked at the text. Oddly, it wasn’t from Aomine. 

 

Instead, it from that fangirl. ‘Kise-san! I’m so hurt! Really, that’s so rude!’ Oh god. He paused, then another ding alerted him. 

‘I can’t believe you would just reject me like this!’ 

Ding. 

‘You’re horrible, Kise-san!’ 

Ding. 

‘Even after all my sacrifices for you? My friends all made fun of me after I dyed my hair!’

Ding.

‘You’re not going to even reply? Holy shit, I don’t even know why I was so interested in the first place!’ 

Ding. 

‘You know what, fine. I’m done.’ 

 

Kise paused again, waited for another text. After a couple moments passed, none came. “Thank goodness,” Kise muttered, as he set the phone down and picked up a fork. After a moment, he got up and decided to take a quick bath. There was way too many crazy fans he’d have to deal with, he didn’t feel like eating now. He cringed at Aomine’s inevitable yelling if he missed lunchtime, but it’s a sacrifice he’s willing to make. 

He relaxed in the bath, and tried to forget everything about the fan, trying to distance himself from the situation. After some soaking, Kise got out and tried eating again. 

Just as he was about to eat, another ding came. Kise groaned, then picked it up again, against his better judgements. 

 

He’d expected another text, but instead he got a picture. 

The blue-haired girl was standing on a railing of some sort. 

 

A moment later, a text. ‘Come, or I’m throwing myself off.’ Another text with the address quickly followed. 

 

Fuck. Kise threw on a coat and scrambled out the door, his heart pounding in his chest. 

 

Kise didn’t hear the ding of another text. Except this time, it was from Aomine. 

‘Eat a lot of food idiot! Don’t be stupid! I love you.’

* * *

 

Kise looks up as Takao enters the room, letting his hurt expression stay on his face. With Takao, he doesn’t need to let his defences up. 

 

“Takaocchi…,” Kise starts, his voice quieter than usual. He bites his lip, then says, “How did Aomine-san react when I...when I, uh, forgot?” 

 

There was a silence. Kise looked up at Takao, surprised by the frown the other man was wearing. This time, Takao wasn’t the automatically happy-go-lucky person Kise had grown accustomed to. He had the same eyes everyone else had. The sad type, the one that searched his face for something else. Someone else. 

 

But just as quickly as the expression was there, it was gone. Takao’s face had a huge smile again, the one Kise was used to. 

 

“What do you mean?” He asked as he walked over and crawled into Kise’s bed. Kise frowned, deep in thought. 

 

“Aomine-san...he was just so upset. I mean, it wasn’t even a big deal you know? The first one was an accident, and then I just wanted to keep doing it, you know? ‘Cause like, I don’t even know my own memories, I can’t feel the same emotional connection with things like you all can. And I was just wondering, oh, what would happen if I just, you know tried this thing, it wouldn’t hurt that bad right? I mean, I just wanted to confirm that I am actually y’know, like alive and-” 

 

“Wait! Slow down! What happened?” 

 

Kise wordlessly shows him his arm. He waits for the smack to come, but it doesn’t. Instead, Takao furrowed his eyebrows and gave out a soft gasp. He gingerly moved Kise’s arm closer and peered at it. 

 

“What did you do?” Takao asks softly.“Do the doctors know?” 

 

Kise nodded. “Yeah.”

 

“And?”

 

“And I told them it was night terrors.” 

 

“And?”

 

“But since I don’t want to be strapped down during the night, they just-”

 

“Wait. Wait wait. What? They just let you off? Just like that?”

 

Kise grinned. “Yeah, and I got this charming smile, Takaocchi!”

 

Even Takao wasn’t stupid enough to believe those marks were simply from night terrors. Nurses had 24 hour duty. If Kise was waking up and tearing off his own skin, one of them would notice. 

 

“What the hell is Shin-chan doing?” Takao muttered as he stared at Kise’s arm. Kise’s smile dropped. 

 

“No! Midorima-san is wonderful! Anyway, as I was saying, they’re not actually from night terrors-”

 

“I figured.”

 

“But y’know? Those sudden impulses you get? So like I was thinking one day when Aominecchi wouldn’t come see me, I was just like hey, this might be fun so I got a nurses nail buffer and sharpened my nails and then I was like ‘hey nails can go through skin easily’ right and boom-”

 

Takao recoiled from Kise, but seems to check himself and only goes a few millimeters. He gingerly drops Kise’s arm, and Kise forces himself to think that Takao didn’t do that on purpose. 

 

He trails off his story with a weak, “and it kinda...became a habit.” 

 

Kise notices the look of disapproval, but he’s powerless to stop it. He knows Takao is only looking at him like that because he’s worried, not because he hated Kise. Takao wasn’t that kind of person. 

 

“Stop it, Kise. Stop.” Takao says, voice authoritative, mirroring Midorima's. Kise wanted to joke about the similarity, but knew that he shouldn’t. 

 

“I know, Takaocchi. But it’s just a lot harder nowadays. And I don’t think…” 

 

He stares at Takao, waiting for the distance everyone else has towards him, but only seems warmth and friendship. Takao seems to be waiting patiently for his response. 

 

“And I don’t think Aomine-san appreciates me.” 

 

“You know he does. He loves you.”

 

“He loves his Kise Ryouta. Not me,” Kise feels the tears welling up as he chokes back a sob. 

 

“You know that’s not true,” Takao says, putting a hand on Kise’s scars, covering them up.  

 

“But what if I never remember? What if I’m always this version of Kise that not the ‘Kise love’ he wants? What if it never happens?” 

 

Takao smiled and pats Kise’s head, “Then he’ll learn to love this version of you.” 

 

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Takao needed to tell Shin-chan about the scars. And fast. And get someone to fire those nurses and lesser doctors that believed Kise’s bedazzled smile. This hospital doesn’t need people that’ll fall for just a pretty face. 

 

As Takao ran down the corridor towards Midorima’s office, he forced his heart to slow. It had sped up the moment he saw the scars, and the flashes of Kise’s hurt body had immediately come back to him. He wasn’t so up close to it as Aomine and Shin-chan, but he’d seen the x-ray scans and Kise post-surgery. 

 

He mentally reprimanded himself for slipping up like that in front of Kise. He’d almost gotten angry. He’d almost acted on his true feelings and would’ve yelled. 

 

Next time, he needed to do better.

* * *

 

~~~

The first thing he feels is pain. Then two people arguing. Then a kick in his ribs. And as he falls unconscious, Kise could only feel a deep sense of regret. 

Kise shouldn’t have ever looked at that text. He shouldn’t have ever even picked up his phone. He shouldn’t have done so many things. 

 

It was an accident. The girl, the text, his own haste. A mistake. It shouldn’t have turned out this way. 

 

Oddly, the thing he remembers as more pain shoots through him is Aomine’s frowning face. How many times has Aomine told him not to associate so much with strangers? How he needed to hire some sort of security with how famous he was becoming? How Aomine had partly chosen his job so he could protect Kise, since being a pro basketball player would’ve done jackshit? 

 

So many regrets. And he couldn’t amend any of them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maannnn....This chapter sucked. A lot….Besides taking literal months to write it, the flow was off and I felt like some scenes I wrote just for the sake of writing. *sigh* I’m sorry to all the people that expected a better chapter. I’m so sorry for making you wait this long.   
> There was many, many different versions of this chapter but they all sucked so this was the one that sucked the least.   
> I promise the future chapters will be better. I hope you can bear with this one. 
> 
> Question: Is it clear when the scenes are past/present? I added the squiggles for the past for anyone that’s still confused. 
> 
> Next chapter is mostly going to be ~What Really Happened~ so stay tuned!  
> Again, reviews are my motivation! Thank you for reading.


	4. Chapter 4

_Four._

_Or, what really happened._

_**Warning:** Heavy graphic description of physical and sexual violence and degrading language is in this chapter. Please do not read if it makes you uncomfortable._

* * *

Kise was dying. He knew he was dying. But his captors refused to let him die. Why? Why? He just wanted the pain to end, to stop. Why were they making this so difficult? He'd long lost his voice after he screamed so much he felt his own throat bleed from the inside.

It hurt to swallow.

It hurt to beg.

It hurt to live.

"Hey, little model bitch." A masked figure hissed at him as he shined a bright light to Kise's eyes. Kise was too tired to shrink away from him. He let out a little gasp but felt his own throat flame up in protest.

"Did the little bitch finally stop screaming? Little fucker," Another figure in the shadows asked. He walked up to Kise, and Kise cowered under this one's mask. It was of the pig-mask man. Kise hazily remembered that there was four of the captors. They all wore difference animal masks. And pig-mask man was the worst one. Kise flinched and the pig-mask slammed him back against the pole he was tied too. Kise's ruined throat forced out another scream and Kise felt his eyes gush out a new round of tears.

He blinked them away and looked around in his dimly lit surroundings. He was still in the warehouse they stuck him in. His arm had a cast around it, but only because the pain of a broken arm made him pass out too much, so they were forced to fix it. Nevertheless, it was still tried around the pole they first stuck him too. He's been living off of canned beans they feed him and stale water. He didn't know how long he's been like this. All he knew was that it had started out with that blue-haired girl.

* * *

He'd met her at his modeling agency, was a light smile and all the reasons why she should live on the tip of his tongue. She'd demanded to go to a cafe with him. He'd agreed, for fear of setting her off. Once at the cafe, she's demanded for his phone, and deleted all the text messages on it between them. That was understandable, she probably didn't want to have Kise to have a copy off her break-down. Then they talked. Just about anything, the weather, his job, animals, but never about her. Kise should have realized she was dangerous the moment she seemed to want to kill him the moment he made the off-hand joke about how she might be a secret spy or something.

Hours passed, then the girl suddenly demanded they leave. Kise, confused but worried for the girl's mentality if he'd let her down, followed. They stopped a couple blocks from the cafe, a section off the main roads, and she said her goodbyes and told him how much she wanted him. She told him of her money and looks, and she told him he was making a mistake by rejecting her and gave him another chance.

The second he rejected again, there was a hard knock on his head. And he woke up to the masked men with animals on them. None of them had blue hair.

* * *

What Kise didn't know was who the blue haired girl was.

Her name is Eliza Witherfield. She'd grown up looking at pretty boy magazines and having pretty boys fawn over her. She'd grown up in the lap of luxury and pretty much got whatever she wanted. There wasn't a pretty face she wasn't able to seduce, not a single pretty face that rejected her. So when she saw a picture of Kise modeling for a watch brand, she knew she had to get him. She got all his information at once, then quickly dyed her hair blue, got a tan, and sent the picture off to Kise's phone, knowing her beauty was enough to entice most men.

Kise Ryouta was the first to reject her. The only one. She's never been rejected. No. Not Eliza Witherfield. It was impossible. She knew he had to be punished. So she called her dad's followers to help her out. They all hated the pretty boys she went home with, after all, they were never allowed to touch her. Witherfield ordered them to make Kise's life hell, but not kill him. He wasn't allowed to die. In fact, after a couple of weeks, they were to let him go. That would make it more entertaining: seeing how he'll cope with the torture. 

She ordered a completely new phone for Kise, the exact same model, and had one of her guys replicate everything except for the text conversations between Kise and her. Although she had deleted the original, she trusted giving a completely new phone with no evidence of the conversation over Kise's original phone.

After confirming Kise was locked up in one of her dad's warehouses, she felt a sick sense of happiness. The stupid guy who dared reject her can finally get his retribution. And so she moved onto a new guy. In a couple of days, Kise Ryouta was completely forgotten about. She even forgot why she dyed her hair blue in the first place.

Nevertheless, she was confident she will catch her next prey. After all, she was the only daughter of the largest drug criminal of Japan. She could do whatever she wanted.

* * *

Kise was forced awake with a rude shove to his face. He didn't know he'd blacked out.

"Hey there, blondie." Oh fuck, it was pig-mask man again. Kise didn't have the strength to move his head as it was shoved roughly back against the pole. Suddenly, Turtle-mask man and Dog-mask man came up from behind the pig-mask man, but Kise almost missed them from the roaring headache banging in his head.

"We're gonna have some fun."

Fun? All of their ideas of 'fun' was nothing more than punching Kise until he didn't have the strength to cry anymore. Kise braced himself for the punches to rain, but he felt nothing for a long time. There was just sounds of shuffling around and then Kise's legs were roughly seized.

What the fuck? Then the dirty and bloodied pants were ripped off of him too, and Kise's head went light as he realized what they were gonna do to him.

_No. No. No. No!_

But pig-mask man grabbed his mouth and he blacked out before he even realized it.

* * *

He'd woken up with pain between his legs and he dry heaved when he smelled the air around him. It was sticky...gross...he didn't want to think about it. He juggled the bindings around him lightly, but he didn't have enough strength to actually do anything.

God, he just wanted to die. Why couldn't he just die? Suffocating himself took way too much energy he didn't have, and in the times he managed to actually feel lightheaded, his survival instincts kicked in anyway.

Why was he even still alive?

Why? Why couldn't he just die?

* * *

"Aominecchi..."

"Who the fuck is that?" The voice jerked Kise awake. What happened?

Suddenly, the pig-mask man came close to his face. "I asked, who the fuck is that?"

Kise almost stopped breathing from fear. Who was who? But he knew better than to not answer.

"I...I-" The smack came before Kise could even flinch.

"Too fucking slow. Now, who is this  _Aominecchi?_  Huh? Little bitch," The pig-mask man sneered.

Kise panicked. He couldn't let them know about Aominecchi. Who knows what they'll do to Aomine too, Kise needed to protect him.

"No one," He choked out.

"Fucking bitch," The pig-mask man snarled, then grasped his legs again. The tears welled before Kise could prevent it.

"Please, no. Please, not again," He begged, but the man just laughed then tore he rags they've covered him with off.

"Tell your little  _Aominecchi_ , will you? Tell him that his little bitch is mine now."

* * *

The next time he woke up, he didn't know how much time had passed. He got the vague sense that it was nighttime, with the moon's light being just too bright for him to open his eyes completely. He knew was that he wasn't tied to the pole anymore. Hooray for small victories, he guessed.

The cold breeze that made it's way to him told him he was outside. After forcing his eyes open all the way despite the pain, he slowly got a look at his surroundings. He was stuck in a narrow alleyway, with trashcans as his companions.

But...he was free. Free from his captors and their scary masks, free from the smelly warehouse, free from the pole they tied him to, he was-

_Free._

That was a feeling he hadn't known in...months?

But then voices came just around the corner, and Kise felt the fear spring back. Dammit, the mask-men were back! He tied to shift his body and sit up, but he couldn't move his body much. They'd taken his arm cast off, so the crooked arm did little to help leverage him up. But damn, he needed to run, he needed to get away, he couldn't let them bring him back-

_No-_

He needed to run-

His foot caught a trashcan lid as he struggled to get up, and it clanged to the ground.

_Shit-_

He was gonna get caught again-

_No-_

_Aominecchi-_

_Where-_

* * *

"Hey, did you hear that?"

"Yeah, it came from the alleyway over there."

"A cat?"

"Maybe, let's go see."

...

"Holy shit. Call the police, Molly! Call them quick!"

* * *

Amensia can happen for many different reasons. But in Kise's case, it was probably because of self-protection.

And so when Kise woke up to the blue eyes of a man he was supposed to be in love with, he could only say, "Who are you?"

And every meeting from then on between the two had to start with an introduction.

"Your name is Kise Ryouta. My name is Aomine Daiki. I fell in love with you. And we were happy together." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: So this chapter was supposed to be longer, but I couldn't keep writing it. I know it's rushed and confusing. I'm so sorry. I also couldn't find the heart to proof-read many times, so there might be more errors than normal. This is turning into a Mafia story too, I hope you can bear with me. It's gonna be way longer than 6 chapters now...maybe 8? 8 to 10 I think.
> 
> I'm so sorry.
> 
> I love Kise with all my heart. Please believe me.


	5. Five, Part One.

_Five. Part One._

_Thank you for waiting._

* * *

 

Akashi had no idea what he was doing. Which is really uncharacteristic of the man, but he honestly did not have a lead. Taking a deep breath, he resumed the call he had put on hold. 

"Yes, father." 

"I need your reply by Sunday. Make your decision then."

  
"I understand, father."

 

A click. Of course his father wouldn't say a parting message. He's gotten used to that sort of treatment over the years. Nevertheless, he couldn't help but want a more loving family, especially after he's seen his Miracles interact with theirs. Akashi closed his eyes and rested his head on the back of his chair. After weeks of investigating, nothing turned up. Now, at the end of his wits and after forcing Momoi and Kuroko through sleepless nights to try to resolve the matter, he's only gotten blanks. So, he did the only thing his gut told him to never do. Call his father. 

 

It was cruel rejection from the start, obviously. But his father had offered a deal: Take over the Seijuro business, and he'll get the full research and investigation teams he needs. It was an offer his father had made years ago for different circumstances, but Akashi had furiously refused. He had never wanted anything to do with his father or his business after high school. He'd already lost his mother. He couldn't bear to live in that cold house without her light. 

 

Now, it was up to him to decide. Would he make the decision to shackle himself to a life of misery, in exchange for the happiness of his Miracles? The logical side of him screamed no. After all, the Miracles were merely a team. They were never a family. But they were the closest thing to family Akashi perhaps could ever get, as much as he hated to admit it. Even if they had friction since high school, they were still a team. His team. And he was their captain. 

 

"Goddamn it." Akashi muttered. When did he ever grow so attached? 

* * *

 

Takao ran down the corridor, holding a stuffed elephant and screaming bloody murder. 

 

"Stop running, Takao!" Came a furious Shin-chan, which fueled Takao even more. 

 

"Then stop chasing me, Shin-chan!" Takao screamed back, as he pushed his burning legs to run faster. Techincally, running in the hospital like this was forbidden, but Takao knew if Midorima caught up with him, he'll die. Not that anyone would believe him, but Takao knew: Shin-chan would actually murder him. 

 

He narrowly avoided a nurse, then crammed himself into a supply closet. Seconds later, he heard Shin-chan's footsteps run past the door. He was safe. For now. Takao breathed a sigh of relief and leaned against the door. Then he heard a noise behind him. 

 

"Um. Takaocchi?" 

 

Takao almost jumped out of his skin and bit out a loud curse. He turned, and blinked away the dark to see a crouching Kise huddled in the corner. 

 

"Kise! What are you doing?" 

 

"What are _you_ doing, Tackaocchi?"  

 

Takao opened his mouth, ready to lie, but saw Kise's face and swallowed it. Damn, he couldn't lie to a face like that. "Uh, so I uh," He looked down at the elephant in his arms, "I kinda stole Shin-chan's lucky item." He saw Kise's eyes widen in shock then grabbed him and pushed him down to the floor with him. 

 

"Okay, Takaocchi, we need to hide you as fast as possible, then. Stay out of the window's view. Anyway, what happened?" 

Takao snuggled in with Kise. "So, uh, Shin-chan wanted to talk with Akashi, right? But then Akashi obviously didn't want to be disturbed for some reason. He looked like he wanted to murder something. So, like, I knew I had to be the scapegoat because Shin-chan wasn't going to back down. So I grabbed his elephant, and yeah." 

Kise looked confused but he accepted it. 

 

"Anyway, what are you doing, Kise?" Takao asked, looking over at his friend. Kise smiled back. 

 

"Oh, I'm hiding from Aominecchi." 

 

Takao laughed. So, they were both hiding from their respective angry boyfriends, huh. 

* * *

 

 

Aomine gave up trying after a while. He grumbled and sat down on the floor a visitor center like an angry child. He still didn't know why Kise got so worried about Karamatsu and the rest of Kaijou visiting. It's not like they didn't know about Kise's condition. But for some reason, Kise got angry and scared. Aomine grumbled. There was so many things he couldn't talk about with Kise now. First it was the apparent self harm scars, now it was his old high school team. What the hell? 

 

It wasn't until he looked down at his lap that he saw something that could help him: Kise's cell phone. Aomine knew he shouldn't look through it, not when this Kise doesn't even fully remember him, but he peeked through anyway. 

 

The first few texts were pretty normal, just Karamatsu asking to be introduced to him. There was a series of pictures, each labeled with a name and position, probably to help Kise remember. But then they got a lot darker. 

 

Kise kept replying, "I'm sorry, I don't remember you." To which Karamatsu insisted and tried teasing Kise, saying he'll come anyway. Kise obviously didn't like that. 

 

_I'm sorry, but you're just a stranger to me, Karamatsu-san. Please don't come. I'm not the Kise you think I am. But everyone wants me to be their 'old Kise'. And I can't do that right now. I'm afraid you will too. I don't want you to feel sad when I can't remember you like everyone else. It makes them sad, and I don't like that. Please don't come._

 

Aomine stared at the message for a while. Then he groaned from the even bigger headache coming up. He and Kise obviously needed to talk. Damn, he was already scared about Kise growing abnormally close to Takao, but for him to be sad because of Aomine or the others? Aomine couldn't let that happen. He read over the words again. 

 

_But everyone wants me to be their 'old Kise'._

 

Ah, fuck. He fucked up. Again. 

 

Akashi wasn't getting anywhere close to finding whomever did this, so they should be less focused on trying to jog Kise's memories and keeping him oblivious. Aomine sighed. Maybe they needed to start accepting this 'new' Kise. As hard as that will be, Kise is still Kise. And Aomine'll be damned if he wouldn't give up everything for him.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...This is a thing. Thank you so much for all your love. I really don't deserve it.  
> I know a lot of you have tumblrs, and graciously offered to help me. Thank you so much. I actually did have a Tumblr, but I had some bad experiences with a mutual on there and it left a bad taste in my mouth so I deleted. I might get one just to talk with you guys, though. 
> 
> Thank you for sitting with me throughout all of my drama. Really, thank you. I can't express it enough. I know I'm not reliable but you keep putting faith in me. Thank you, thank you, thank you. 
> 
> I'm taking the update type chapters down after a little so the story would flow better (which is why I didn't reply to all of you- but I read all the messages- please know I wasn't ignoring you). 
> 
> I'm aiming for ~1,000 words per part, with 3 parts to a chapter since my usual updates were ~3,000 words each. 
> 
> Again, thank you. I'm sorry, and I'm so grateful. <3


End file.
